Human Rights Council feature stories

Digital age: Is our privacy under threat?
States have a responsibility to protect against unlawful interference with the right to privacy. More transparency in how States and the private sector manage personal digital data is key to protecting our human rights.
19 November 2018

Human Rights Council Retreat
This week, government representatives, members of civil society and human rights experts took stock of progress made by the Council while expressing their views on its future work.
12 October 2018

Displaced and afraid in Idlib, Syria
Warring parties in Idlib have given little consideration for civilian lives and have caused massive displacements. UN experts propose recommendations to address the situation of the displaced.
02 October 2018

Improve integration of child soldiers
“We are concerned about the punitive approach taken by some States toward children associated with armed groups, including mercenaries, and insist that the best interests of the child should be the primary consideration,” said Saeed Mokbil, Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries during the Human Rights Council.
01 October 2018

Rethinking sanctions that affect the rights of Syrians
Unilateral sanctions have negatively affected the rights of Syrians and impeded the operations of civil society and humanitarian actors in Syria, the UN expert on unilateral coercive measures says.
26 September 2018

Reprisals: Targeting Human Rights Defenders
"The horrendous impact on the victim and their families aside, reprisals against people for cooperating with the UN sends a chilling message to others of what will happen if they do the same thing. As they are designed to do," said Assistant-Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour.
21 September 2018

Myanmar Fact Finding Mission: accounting for the gravest international crimes
The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar found patterns of gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan States, amounting to the gravest crimes under international law. The report calls for Myanmar military generals to be investigated for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
29 August 2018

SIDs Trust Fund honours Tonga
Tonga delegate Elsie Fukofuka has become the 100th beneficiary of the Voluntary Technical Assistance Trust Fund. The Fund provides support for delegates from least developed countries and small island nations to attend the Human Rights Council.
26 July 2018

What to know about detention and the right to health
The UN right to health expert, Dainius Pūras, says that over 10 million people detained in prisons and confined in other institutions are denied their right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
28 June 2018

Syria: the most dangerous place for children?
Civil society actors give the Human Rights Council information on violations of children’s rights in Syria and recommendations on how to protect rights of these children.
16 March 2018

Syria crimes: Perpetrators must be held accountable – Zeid
Syria must be referred to the International Criminal Court, Zeid tells an urgent debate at the Human Rights Council, as civilians continue to be pounded into submission and death by airstrikes and shelling despite Security Council resolution.
02 March 2018

Burundi - A knife or a steel bar? How would you prefer to be killed?
In 2015, President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to stand for another term as head of state of Burundi. Since then, real or suspected government opponents have been hunted down, tortured or killed. The Commission of Inquiry on Burundi talks of crimes against humanity.
04 September 2017

Protecting the rights of detainees in Syria
Protection of detainees and the disappeared in Syria was the focus of a recent panel discussion held during the Human Rights Council in Geneva. The discussion focused on the experiences of former detainees as well as providing some ways forward.
11 April 2017

Zeid's Global Human Rights Update
Addressing the 33rd session of the Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner focused on trends that increasingly undermine the work of the United Nations – including attempts to block the scrutiny of his Office.
13 September 2016

Taking stock of the Human Rights Council at 10
Former presidents assess a decade of the Human Rights Council during a discussion on the 10th Anniversary of the Human Rights Council. The event was moderated by UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore.
15 June 2016

Homelessness: surviving at the peripheries
Homelessness is not a personal failure but the consequence of the systemic denial of the rights of homeless people, says UN expert on the right to adequate housing, Leilani Farha.
21 March 2016

Out of sight, out of mind: deaths in detention in Syria
Syrian men, women, and children have been transferred to one of the dozens of official or secret Government-run detention facilities in the Syrian Arab Republic. Thousands of them have been killed while in custody.
15 February 2016

Criticism is no threat to sovereignty
“Sovereignty cannot be damaged by carefully evaluated commentary,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, in his opening address to the 30th Session of the Human Rights Council, taking place in Geneva this month.
14 September 2015

More satellite images to assist human rights work
Satellite imagery plays a vital role in helping to substantiate and help corroborate other sources of information, including witness testimonies, of human rights violations. A recent agreement between the UN Human Rights Office and UNITAR’s Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) hopes to expand the use of this technology for human rights work.
16 July 2015

UN Human Rights Office researches abuses of Boko Haram
The atrocities and human rights abuses committed by Boko Haram are the focus of a special investigation by the UN Human Rights Office. The investigation, authorized by the Human Rights Council earlier this year, will interview provide background information for an oral report by the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
01 July 2015

Message is clear: Human Rights Still Matter
“Let the message go out that we will defend the victim and the voiceless,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein. The message was given during his opening statement of the 29th Session of the Human Rights Council, taking place in Geneva this week.
16 June 2015

States must renew dedication to inalienable human rights
The near daily news of atrocities and needless human suffering at the hands of terrorists and others demands a stronger and more inspired leadership from Member States toward upholding human rights, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein. Zeid made his comments at the opening of the 28th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
02 March 2015

Protect the rights of people with albinism
Tanzania has witnessed a spate of brutal attacks and killings of people with albinism, linked to myths and witchcraft. To protect this vulnerable group, the East African nation has rounded up children with the condition and placed them in holding centres throughout the country.
04 December 2014

Mass surveillance: exceptional measure or dangerous habit?
Digital communications technologies have revolutionized the way human beings interact, but Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Flavia Pansieri warns of the very real impact that governmental surveillance of digital communications can have on a range of human rights.
13 November 2014

The Long Road to Ending Impunity
The UN Human Rights Office and the UN Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO) enforce protection measures to enable victims and witnesses of alleged human rights violations to testify in court.
10 October 2014

Out of many perspectives comes one history
History and memorials are not the spoils of the victor. In a panel discussion held during the 27th Human Rights Council, Human Rights special rapporteurs discussed with guests and Member States the best way to ensure that history teaching and memorialization processes are being used as a way of fostering mutual understanding between communities so as not to repeat past wrongs.
23 September 2014

Web resource gathers human rights education commitments of States in one place
A web resource called “The Right to Human Rights Education”, which was unveiled during a side event at the 27th session of the Human Rights Council, is a compilation of all the provisions of international and regional instruments that highlight commitments made by States to human rights education.
22 September 2014

Syria’s brutal war threatens international peace and security
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic says the continuous influx of foreign fighters and the advances of extremist groups has contributed to a spill-over of violence affecting international peace and stability.
01 September 2014

The harms of gender stereotyping
Gender stereotyping is a form of discrimination against women and a contributing factor to many violations of their rights, say experts at the Human Rights Council.
20 June 2014

Safety of journalists: States must act to end impunity
UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay says States must act to address impunity: that every act of violence against a journalist that goes uninvestigated and unpunished is an open invitation to further violence.
13 June 2014

Everyone needs a place to call home
The UN human rights expert on adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, presents new Guiding Principles on tenure security for the urban poor in her last report to the Human Rights Council.
17 March 2014

The Human Rights Council’s 25th session opens in Geneva
At the opening of the 25th Session of the Human Rights Council, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay spoke of the daunting challenges, which lie ahead, for the full protection and promotion of human rights and highlighted the recent human rights achievements.
04 March 2014

The right to privacy in the digital age
UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay describes a ‘blurring of lines between the public and private sphere” brought about by modern communications technology and the challenges this poses to ensuring effective protection of the right to privacy.
01 November 2013

Human Rights Council’s 24th session opens in Geneva
At the opening of the 24th Session of the Human Rights Council, UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay expressed her distress over the current human rights challenges throughout the world starting with the catastrophic situation in Syria, and highlighted the Office’s recent achievements.
10 September 2013

Combating child sex tourism
By 2030 the number of international tourists will reach an estimated 1.8 billion. Tourism, however, has a dark side and can be a potential vehicle for child abuse. Child sex tourism (CST) is a growing trend affecting millions of children around the globe.
10 April 2013

A move to raise a healthier generation of kids
Human rights and health experts participated in an interactive dialogue on the challenges in achieving the full realization of the right of the child to health during the full-day meeting on the Rights of the Child.
21 March 2013

20 years working for human rights
Two decades on from the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, the international community recalls it as a ‘milestone’ in the development of the global human rights movement.
28 February 2013

The 22nd Session of the Human Rights Council opens in Geneva
At the opening of the 22nd Session of the Human Rights Council, the UN Human Rights Chief, Navi Pillay, evokes the 20th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, and acknowledges achievements and challenges ahead.
25 February 2013

Ending the recruitment of child soldiers
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict appeals to the Human Rights Council for greater protection of conflict-affected children.
12 September 2012

Supporting women human rights defenders
“Although much progress has been made in realizing women’s rights, we must acknowledge that we still live in a world where women face serious inequalities in all spheres of life—at home, at work, in communities and in politics,”.
30 July 2012

The right to send out “inconvenient” information
Journalists should not be intimidated, imprisoned, tortured or killed for telling “inconvenient” truths, notes the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, Frank La Rue, in his latest report to the Human Rights Council.
21 June 2012

Right to food: the impacts of bad diets
In his new report to the UN Human Rights Council, Olivier De Schutter, the UN independent expert on the right to food, addresses the links between health and malnutrition.
28 March 2012

Children and the justice system
Addressing the Human Rights Council, UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay says imprisonment of children should be considered only as a last resort.
26 March 2012

A stain on our collective conscience
UN Secretary-General BAN Ki-moon calls on members of the Human Rights Council and “all people of conscience” to act now to put an end to violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
07 March 2012

A right to choose for persons with disabilities
States that have endorsed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities should ease the participation of all persons with disabilities in the political and public life of their countries.
06 March 2012

The Human Rights Council holds an urgent debate on Syria
UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay addresses the Human Rights Council urgent debate on Syria, describing the situation in the country as dire and calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to end the fighting and bombardments.
29 February 2012

Human Rights Council holds its 19th session
Human rights issues, from minority rights to juvenile justice, will be addressed during the upcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council, which takes place in Geneva from 27 February to 23 March 2012.
23 February 2012

Breaking point in Somalia
The drought in Somalia takes the local people to breaking point: the Independent Expert on Somalia says the funds must be found to deal with the country’s famine and ongoing conflict.
15 September 2011

The 18th Session of the Human Rights Council
Opening this year’s final session of the Human Rights Council, High Commissioner Pillay sets out the many human rights challenges confronting the global community.
12 September 2011